The Christmas Gift
by lexie2
Summary: Lex reminisces his first Christmas with Lana as a married couple and how his life changed when the clock struck twelve.


**Author Note**: This fic is a response to the Christmas Challenge on the Lex & Lana Forums at DTS. I´ve included three of the prompts proposed: a scene of Lex, Lana, or both shopping for and/or decorating a Christmas tree; a memory (or memories) of Lex's childhood at the holidays (e.g. hiding in the coat closet, Christmas before Lillian died, Christmas after Lillian died, etc); and Lex or Lana strategically tries to get the other under the mistletoe.

**SUMMARY**:

Lex reminisces his first Christmas with Lana as a married couple and how his life changed when the clock struck twelve.

**AUTHOR**: lexie2

**RATING**: PG-13

**DISCLAIMER**: all Superman and Smallville characters belong to DC Comics and Gough & Millar. No Infringement's intended.

**THE CHRISTMAS GIFT**

We had just celebrated our first wedding anniversary and Christmas was fast approaching. Lana was buzzing with energy when I arrived from the office, and I couldn´t help but smile like the lovesick husband I am when I saw her bossing my stuffy butler around. It was really funny to see the perpetually dignified Briton come out of his way to indulge her every whim, unflinching even when she ordered him to haul some rather dusty and mysterious cardboard boxes into the study.

Stevens has been a member of the Luthor staff for over thirty years now, and I can´t remember ever seeing a spot of dust on his immaculate uniform except that December. That Christmas seemed to be a time of firsts for the whole Luthor household.

¨Hello, beautiful, ¨I said with a laugh in my voice, as I left my briefcase on the baby piano and leant forward to press a warm kiss on her mouth. ¨What´s all this hustle and bustle about? ¨I asked, cocking an eyebrow and walking to my desk, which was now completely covered with boxes of every size and shape. I started to remove a lid to have a peek inside when she said the words that hadn´t been heard in the mansion for seventeen years.

¨I´ve asked Stevens to help me carry up the boxes with the Christmas decorations. They´ve been collecting dust in the basement, ¨she murmured with a hint of hesitation, looking at me with her expressive chocolate doe eyes. ¨I´ve been thinking... It´s our first Christmas as a married couple and... er... I know that you´re not used to this but... Could you... ? ¨she stammered adoringly, and I knew what she intended to say but couldn´t articulate, too afraid to hurt my feelings. And I was suddenly overwhelmed by something I hadn´t experienced since the time my mum was alive- I felt cherished and loved. I locked my eyes with hers and wondered what I had done to deserve her and why, after all we´d been through, she had chosen me over the one person whose name´s no longer mentioned between us.

¨Would you like me to help you pick a Christmas tree? ¨I volunteered and saw her let out the breath she had been holding.

¨Would you? ¨she asked with a shaky and hopeful smile.

¨You know I´d do anything to see you happy, Lana; ¨I whispered, incapable of resisting the urge to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

She leant on my hand and, pressing a kiss on my palm, she raised her eyes to meet mine and found the courage to frame the question which I believed had been nagging at her all morning, ¨ Would you help me decorate the tree, Lex? ¨

When my mother was still alive and healthy, we´d drive to the local market and she´d let me pick the tree which we´d put at the bottom of the staircase. She had always had a real tree while growing up in Boston and said that Christmas wouldn´t be Christmas without one. Dad had never celebrated the holiday season before marrying her. His parents – of whom he rarely spoke- hadn´t been the religious kind, and I suppose he put up with all the December fuss just to humour her.

My last real Christmas was the one before my father sent me to boarding school. It was the year my little brother Julian died; the year my mother started slowly but inexorably to slip away. That December she didn´t take me to the marketplace- she couldn´t; she was too fragile to leave her bed for more than a few minutes at a time- but I was determined to bring her Christmas to her room. It was the only occasion I remember the mighty Lionel Luthor coming early to participate in the decoration of the tree. It would be the first and the last time, for the following Christmas my mother would be dead, the boxes with the decorations would be vanished to the basement, no tinsel would deck the hallways and no Christmas tree would grace the empty shell we called home.

¨It´s time to make new memories, ¨I said, trying to control the tremor in my voice.

¨Thank you, Lex, ¨came Lana´s muffled voice as she snaked her arms around my waist and pressed her face against my cashmere pullover.

I wanted to say something to her; tell her that she had nothing to thank me for, that I was the one for ever grateful to her for accepting me in her life, but words failed me. Emotions were too raw, and I just hugged her back and buried my nose in her chamomile-scented hair in an attempt to communicate with my body what I couldn´t put in words.

Going through the process of choosing the perfect tree for our first Christmas together as a married couple was bittersweet. I saw her enthusiasm as she tried to make me participate in the decisions.

¨Lex, ¨said Lana with a hint of concern, and I kicked myself for letting her see how much this was affecting me, ¨is everything all right? ¨

¨Sorry, Lana, it´s just that... ¨I mumbled and felt the unwelcomed prick of tears in my eyes.

¨Are you sure you don´t mind... ? ¨she started to ask and I cut her off with a kiss before she could see the moisture in my eyes.

¨It´s not what you think, ¨I said, ending the kiss reluctantly.

She thought my melancholy was due to memories of my mum before disease claimed her life, but I couldn´t bring myself to tell her the scene reminded me too much of a dream I had had the Christmas I was shot and almost died.

By the time it started to snow lightly over Smallville we were back at the mansion with a fragrant middle-sized fir tree. We hauled it to the study were the fire was crackling softly in the fireplace and the aroma of burning wood and fresh pine coalesced into a perfume which had been imprinted on my mind since days of old.

As I set the tree in the stand which Stevens had conjured up, Lana rummaged through the boxes looking for the new 200 lights she had bought at Fordham´s.

¨Well, the tree´s in place. What shall I do now? ¨I asked, turning around and surprising a tender look in her eyes which made my heart flutter.

¨You could start with the lights now, ¨she responded warmly, handing me the box. ¨I´ll go for the stepping stool, ¨she added, walking to the door.

¨I´ll fetch it, Lana. Why don´t you stay and untangle these? ¨I suggested, giving her back the box.

¨You remember this, don´t you? ¨she asked wryly.

¨What are you hinting at? ¨I responded, cocking an eyebrow.

¨I can´t believe it! Lex Luthor feels threatened by a bunch of insignificant lights, ¨she laughed.

¨ You untangle them, I´ll put them up. ¨ I said from the doorway.

¨Yes, boss, ¨she beamed, and I left the study through the double doors, wondering if I´d survive the proceedings.

Climbing up the step stool I began the painstaking process of attaching the blinking lights string by string, making sure they were evenly distributed and practically invisible. It´s a task which takes time and thought, and that´s something I´m very good at.

Once the lights were up, Lana took over and made me climb down. She stepped up on the stool and I began to pass her the ornaments for her to hang.

¨They don´t make baubles like these any more, ¨she said with nostalgia as she grabbed the colourful glass ornaments with careful hands. ¨They´re so brittle... but I prefer them to the modern ones. ¨

¨Some of them are as old as I am, ¨I said, passing her the star.

¨Then, they´re pretty old, ¨she quipped, climbing up to the top wrung, and I steadied her by reaching out and holding her by her hips.

The decoration of the tree was gradually becoming a very sensual experience, and I couldn´t help but smile what I believe must have been a very smug smile when she stepped down a wrung causing my hands to slip up her hips and touch her bottom.

¨Are you enjoying the view, Lex? ¨ she laughed musically.

¨You´ve got a very tantalising derrière, Mrs Luthor, ¨I smiled, putting one arm around her back and the other under her kneels to sweep her off the stool.

¨Are you trying to turn me on, Mr Luthor? ¨she blushed.

¨You´ve called me old. I´m just trying to make a point here. How am I doing so far? ¨I murmured, feeling my desire for her grow.

She put her arm around my shoulder as I stood in the middle of the study, holding her in my arms, and then she leant her head forward, pulling mine to meet her lips. She tugged at my lower lip deliciously, and I opened my mouth to let her in. Her passionate nature never ceases to amaze me. If only the townspeople knew how wrong they were when they thought of her as Smallville´s innocent and demure Princess. No man had ever seen her or touched her like I did on our wedding night, but if there´s something Lana isn´t is shy- at least, in the privacy of our room- and I pride myself on the fact that no other man has or will ever experience it first hand; not even Clark.

The kiss we shared turned really passionate all of a sudden, but then she backed her head away, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before fluttering her eyelids open and letting me see her dimples.

¨If we keep this up, Lex, we won´t finish decorating the tree in time for Christmas, ¨she said, giving me a quick peck on the mouth. ¨Besides, we haven´t put up the mistletoe yet. ¨

¨In case you don´t remember, it was you who made the first move, ¨I said letting her feet drop to the ground and keeping my arms around her waist.

¨You started it, Lex, ¨she poked me on the chest.

¨I did not, ¨I proclaimed, feigning outrage.

¨You swept me off the stool, ¨she said with a cute scowl.

¨Your sinful body´s the one to blame, ¨I whispered in her ear, nuzzling her neck.

¨Lex, ¨she moaned, ¨let me go and I promise I´ll make it up to you. ¨

¨Be careful with your promises, Lana, ¨I said provocatively.

¨If you´re a good boy, Mr Luthor, Santa may answer your letter this year, ¨ she responded warmly, and I could see a suspicious glazing in her eyes.

I must have looked at her oddly because she suddenly composed and pushed me gently to resume her chore.

¨Let me add the tinsel, Lex. It´ll just take a couple of minutes. ¨

The couple of minutes turned into five and then into ten, and I was getting rather impatient. I followed her graceful movements as she carefully placed each glittering metallic strip in place so that both sides hung freely and, when she was done, she stood back a few steps and asked me to turn off the lights of the study to see the tree illuminated.

¨How do you like the overall effect, Lex? ¨she queried as I stood in the middle of the room, too overwhelmed by the way the sparkling fire and the tree lights reflected on her long chestnut hair and her delicate features. ¨Lex?¨she asked turning a delightful red.

¨I´ve never seen anything as beautiful in my life, ¨I said throatily, and she surprised me by sprinting toward me and jumping into my arms.

I caught her and she wrapped her arms and legs around me. She smiled deliciously, and her curves pressed against my already aroused body almost undid me. I rested my forehead on hers and closed my eyes, trying to slow down the pacing of my heart while she traced my features with loving hands.

¨Lana, ¨I moaned as she brushed her lips against mine, ¨there´s still no mistletoe. ¨

¨Who needs mistletoe? ¨she answered, tightening her hold on me. ¨So, Lex, ¨she whispered in my ear, sending shivers up my pine, ¨are you going to show me how much you like what you see? ¨

¨You´re a little minx, ¨I murmured, cupping her face and meeting her mouth in a searing kiss.

The wait had had an effect on both of us, and our climb to the master bedroom was stalled on several occasions when the kisses and the caresses turned too heated, and I was afraid of tumbling down the stairs with her body still wrapped around mine.

Before Lana I had never been the cuddling type and, to outward appearances, I´m still not. I make sure my mask remains in place for that´s the only way I know how to face the hostile world around me. I´d always wanted to have someone I could open to, someone I could trust with my heart, and when she entered my life soon after I arrived in Smallville my dream started to haunt me. I had to wait a long time until the scenario was the appropriate one for me to make my move. Still, I strove to keep the walls around my heart up just in case she crushed it, but she didn´t. She found her way in, and I found myself trusting her with that part of me which has been the most trampled and hurt. Human contact before her was limited to countless inconsequential one-night stands, which left me most of the times satisfied on a basic level but which never quenched that thirst that resided in the bottom of my heart.

I looked at her in the aftermath of our passionate lovemaking as she faced away but snuggled very close to me. I wrapped one arm around her and brought our bodies flush, pressing leisurely kisses on her shoulders and the crook of her neck. The gentle caresses soon lulled her to sleep and, as customary, I remained awake for a while, listening to her even breathing and studying her relaxed features. That night she glowed with a particular kind of light and my eyes roamed over each curve, hill and indentation as something stirred inside me, something beautiful but scary at the same time.

The days flew by and soon it was Christmas Eve. Lana and I had been invited to a formal dinner by my business partner Bruce Wayne for which purpose we had taken the jet to Gotham.

¨You know, Lana, we can still make our excuses and stay at the penthouse. Bruce´ll understand, ¨I said, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind as she put on the mother pearl earrings I had given her for her birthday.

¨I told you, Lex, it´s no big deal. I know this is part of the game and I´m OK with it, ¨ she answered, leaning back.

¨Are you sure? ¨I insisted, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

¨Yes, I´m sure. Besides...¨she added with a sensual voice, pulling me forward by the tie, ¨we´ll still have the rest of the night. ¨

¨You´re tempting me to stay at home, Mrs Luthor, ¨I smiled, meeting her lips in a sweet kiss.

The food and the music were first-rate as usual, but I couldn´t wait to be back home to celebrate Christmas with my wife. It still surprises me how a small town girl like Lana has adapted to my world and how much bearable she´s made that part of my life which I hate the most- socialising. I´d much rather be in my study sharing a glass of vintage wine while listening to some opera with Lana snuggled next to me on the sofa.

It was close to midnight when she stole a glance at me across the ballroom and I decided I had had enough shoptalk to last me until Twelfth Night at least.

¨Excuse me, ¨I smirked, cutting off the inane conversation that had been dragging on for far too long, ¨duty calls. ¨

¨Oh, sure! One can´t keep one´s lady waiting, ¨answered the middle-aged businessman who had stuck with me like a leech.

¨You didn´t seem to be having fun, ¨murmured Lana when I reached her.

¨Your timing was perfect, Lana. Two more minutes and I would have had trouble living up to the Luthor reputation, ¨I whispered next to her ear as she slipped her arm through mine.

¨We couldn´t allow that to happen, could we? ¨she smiled conspiratorially.

¨Would you do me the honour of a dance? ¨I asked as the band started to play a slow number and the lights began to dim, getting ready to the twelve o´clock chime.

¨I´ve been waiting for this all night, ¨she blushed, and I took her onto the dance floor to be joined by the other couples.

Having her soft curves pressed against me as we swayed with the music brought back those intense feelings of the night she had spent in my arms after setting up the tree. Anticipation was killing me. Something she had said that night several weeks before and something- call it an epiphany- I had experienced when I watched her lying naked and sated in my arms made my heart quicken and my chest clench now that midnight was fast approaching. I knew she had had something on her mind all day long, and a sixth sense told me she would say the words when the clock struck twelve. I tried to keep my composure and gradually led her to a lateral archway.

¨Lex, ¨she whispered, looking at me in the eye when the grandfather clock chimed twelve and the fireworks started to crack.

I couldn´t let her say it. Not yet. Not amidst all those people. Not something so private, something that would change our lives and my world for ever. I wasn´t ready to hear it coming from her lips yet. I was scared, scared witless of losing her the way my mum had shown me that Christmas three years before.

¨Lex, ¨she repeated, beaming as she caressed my cheek with a hand, ¨I´ve got something to... ¨

I cut her off in mid-sentence before the words were out of her mouth. I crushed her lips with a kiss so desperate and needy that I heard some guests gasp close to us. ´There goes the trademark Luthor cool aloofness, ´I thought.

¨Wow!¨ panted Lana as my mouth left her lips after making sure she´d been thoroughly kissed. ¨Where did that come from? ¨ she sighed.

¨Mistletoe, ¨I smirked looking up above our heads.

¨Had I known this before, I would have insisted on hanging that mistletoe back at the mansion. Lex, I... ¨

¨I love you, Lana, ¨I whispered throatily into her ear, pressing a kiss on her pulse and letting my left hand graze the side of her abdomen where our child was miraculously growing.

I felt her tremble in my arms when my fingers splayed protectively on her womb, and she raised her chocolate eyes to meet mine.

¨Merry Christmas, Lex, ¨she said, resting her head on my chest and wrapping her arms tightly around me.

¨Merry Christmas, Lana, ¨I responded with a catch in my voice as I kissed the top of her head.

A year has gone my since that Christmas and not a day passes by when I don´t look at our little baby Lillian with awe in my eyes. She´s got ten perfect toes and ten perfect fingers that clutch at my dress shirt whenever I hold her and get lost in those chocolate eyes which remind me so much of her mother´s. I still can´t believe how lucky I am, how fortunate we are.

¨Hello, daddy, ¨says Lana, wrapping her arms around me from behind.

¨Isn´t she beautiful? ¨I smile, caressing the baby´s cheek with a finger.

¨You´re besotted, Lex, ¨she responds next to my ear.

¨You aren´t jealous, are you? ¨I ask, remembering all I´ve read about new mothers and how they can feel displaced by their babies.

¨Of course not, Lex, ¨she smiled, letting me see her dimples before pressing a lingering kiss on my lips. ¨Hey! ¨she laughs, breaking the kiss and looking down at Lillian who´s pulling at Lana´s long hair. ¨He´s also mine, you know? ¨

¨Lana, ¨I croak, ¨thank you. ¨

¨There´s nothing to thank me for, darling¨ she murmurs with glassy eyes. ¨I love you, Lex. ¨

¨I´ll just say it again all the same. Thank you for the best Christmas present ever. ¨


End file.
